A picture of the sign was posted online on Monday and has attracted some criticism.

One commenter said: “Seems a pretty outdated mindset for a large modern [company].”

The sign itself says: “Just like mum’s: role playing and mimicking is a fun way kids develop and learn. So we have mini kitchens and realistic little cookware that lets the children pretend they’re the ones whipping up dinner for the family.”

The Ikea sign in question

Graffiti added to the sign in pencil includes “Cooking is not gender specific!” as well as “and dads” and “just parents in general.”

Store Manager at IKEA Bristol, Federica Martellini, said: “At Ikea we believe that families come in all shapes and sizes. In designing our in-store room sets we create a brief for the room based on the local area and with a specific family in mind, so that we can build a room around their individual needs.

"This particular room set was designed for a single mother called Karen living with a three year old child called Joe. However, we understand that the sign may have been interpreted differently by some of our customers and as a result of this we have removed it.”